


I see us in black and white

by Peterhollandorgana



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Niall Horan - Freeform, Reylo - Freeform, Very fluffy, Wedding Fluff, black and white, book nerds, heartbreak weather, so sweet it'll make your teeth ache, soft, there's bad karaoke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:47:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24465964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peterhollandorgana/pseuds/Peterhollandorgana
Summary: The bookstore was hot and humid. Ben saw a sign in the store window saying that their air conditioning was broken, but he didn’t mind. He was used to the heat.Ben knew exactly what book he was looking for and headed straight back to the Classics section that the store highlighted. He had frequented this store since he was a young child and could definitely walk through the shelves blindfolded and find what he needed.Ben saw the book that he needed as he turned the corner around a bookshelf. What he did not expect, however, was the small woman who was grabbing for that exact book.A romantic one-shot based off of Black and White by Niall Horan.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	I see us in black and white

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to listen to Black and White by Niall Horan while you read the story and please enjoy!

Today was the day that Ben had been waiting for his entire life. At least, it felt like it. He didn’t know who he was before he met Rey. He never imagined ever getting married, especially not with a real ceremony.

Ben stood in front of the mirror in his dressing room, hands shaking as he smoothed the wrinkles in his dress shirt. He grabbed the tie hanging off of the mirror in front of him and set it around his neck as he sighed. He knew everything was going to be perfect, but he still couldn’t shake his nervousness.

Ben took a step away from the mirror and pushed the curtains aside to look out the window. The guests were starting to arrive as the sun was setting behind them. Rey loved living under the stars and Ben wanted to give her that for the rest of their life. The ceremony would begin right after dusk in the backyard garden of Ben’s mother’s house. The stars would be the perfect background.

Chairs were expertly lined up in the grass and lantern lights hung around them in the air. As you walked down the aisle, daisies trailed under your feet, all the way to the altar.

Ben stood anxiously at the head of the altar, Poe, and Hux standing just to his left. Rey would be walking down the aisle towards him any moment now. She would finally be his, forever.

Ben closed his eyes then and took a deep breath. It was so close to being real. When he opened his eyes again, there she was at the end of the aisle, looking straight at him with tears in her eyes.

Rey’s dress was not white. She was not a very traditional person, but neither was Ben. The bodice of her dress was white, but colors dripped down the skirt of the dress and into the train. She looked like a rainbow with the oranges and yellows fading into greens and deep purples. She looked like a flower; his flower. He couldn’t help but think of the day he met her.

_The bookstore was hot and humid. Ben saw a sign in the store window saying that their air conditioning was broken, but he didn’t mind. He was used to the heat._

_Ben knew exactly what book he was looking for and headed straight back to the Classics section that the store highlighted. He had frequented this store since he was a young child and could definitely walk through the shelves blindfolded and find what he needed._

_Ben saw the book that he needed as he turned the corner around a bookshelf. What he did not expect, however, was the small woman who was grabbing for that exact book._

_She had long brown hair, he assumed, as it was twisted up into several buns atop her head. She blatantly stood out against the wood grain of the shelves in her bright yellow sundress._

_He continued to walk toward the shelf as she flipped the book around to read the back cover. Ben had never known anyone to actively seek out a random classic novel and check the summary to see if they’d enjoy it._

_Ben was finally a few feet from the shelf and noticed that the only copy of Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald was sitting in this young woman’s arms. He stood a few more moments before he cleared his throat to get her attention. “Excuse me...”_

_The woman jumped and turned around quickly. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Am I in your way?” She took a step back from the shelf then to give Ben more room._

_“No, you’re fine. It’s um…It’s just that you’ve got the book that I need for my dissertation.”_

_She looked at him strangely with these bright brown doe eyes as he pointed to the book in her small arms. “Oh! This one?”_

_“That’s the one.” Ben nodded._

_“It sounded quite interesting actually…Have you read it before?” She completely ignored the fact that Ben had pointed out the need for the Fitzgerald classic, and instead opened the pages to skim through the first short story._

_“Fifteen times, actually. ‘Sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar…’ Ice Palace is my favorite.”_

_“If you’ve read it so many times, why do you suddenly need a copy of it for your assignment?” She glanced up at him before looking back down at the pages in front of her._

_Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair then. It was definitely too hot in this building. “I dropped my copy in a fountain in Central Park last week with all my markings inside. The book is ruined beyond repair.”_

_The brown-haired woman nodded. “Which fountain?”_

_“Untermyer…Anyway, I’m going to need that book darling.”_

_“Darling?” She looked up at him curiously. “What are you going to do for me if I let you have it?”_

_Ben looked around for a moment before he remembered the café that was attached to the beautiful shop. “I could buy you a very expensive and fancy coffee from the café next to the checkout and recommend a different Fitzgerald book to occupy your time until they order another copy of this fine collection.”_

_She grinned at him and stuck out her hand. “It’s a deal. I’m Rey, by the way.”_

_Ben shook her hand and smiled back at her. “Ben.”_

When Ben blinked again, his future wife was standing in front of him, a single tear trailing down her cheek as she handed her bouquet of sunflowers off to Rose, her bridesmaid.

“Hi there,” Ben whispered as he took Rey’s hand and pulled her closer to him.

“Hi,” she giggled as she looked him up and down. “You look very dapper this evening. Is there a special event?”

“Hardly. Just two kids, madly in love is all.”

Rey giggled again as they turned their attention to the pastor.

Ben watched Rey through the entire ceremony and almost didn’t catch that it was time for his vows. He was too entranced with the woman in front of him.

The pastor nodded to him and he released Rey’s hands to pull a notecard out of his pants pocket. His hands were shaking. He took a deep breath and skimmed over the words again before he looked up at Rey.

“Rey, you have a place in my heart no one else could ever have. When I’m with you…I don’t breathe quite right. You’re the Zelda to my Fitzgerald and I mean that most sincerely. I promise that I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”

He stared at his soon to be wife with love in his eyes as he remembered the night of their first date.

\--

_Ben got out of the car and jogged around to the passenger side to open the door for Rey. He held a hand out for her to grab as she climbed out._

_“Thank you,” she smiled. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she led Ben up to her doorstep through the light rain._

_The ground was slippery from the rain and Rey wobbled as she moved forward. She almost fell until Ben instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her and said, “Be careful there.” Rey blushed but said nothing in response._

_They stopped at the door and Rey reached down to grab her keys. “Let me just…” She dug through her purse for her keys haphazardly and sighed. “They’re in here somewhere…” She pushed past two apples, a bag of Cheetos, and extra tampons before finding them at the bottom of her bag. “Here we go.”_

_She giggled and reached forward to open the door just as Ben pressed his lips to hers._

_Rey leaned into the kiss before pulling away to breathe a few moments later. “Do uh…do you want to come inside?”_

_Ben nodded as she took his hand and led him inside._

\--

Rey looked up at Ben with leaking eyes as she read her vows to him. It was like there was no one else in the world.

“Ben, you have found light in me when I thought there was only darkness. You’ve been there for every up and every down but you never left me. You’ve kept me on solid ground when I thought I was sinking, and I can only hope that I have done the same for you. You always call me your Rey of sunshine, but to me, you’re the sun.”

Just a few moments later, the pastor officially pronounced them husband and wife, and Ben had never felt happier. He pulled Rey into his arms and kissed her as quickly as he could.

Rey wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled against his lips. As they pulled away she whispered, “I love you too.”

\--

_Rey was sitting underneath the biggest and fluffiest blanket that Ben owned as they traded favorite quotes and books back and forth on Ben’s couch._

_“Least favorite novel that you’ve ever read?” Rey asked as she slipped another pile of popcorn into her mouth._

_“Pride and Prejudice.”_

_Rey gasped. “Take that back!”_

_Ben laughed and shook his head. “Never. I can’t stand it.”_

_Rey threw a piece of popcorn at his head as she said, “Well I happen to think it’s extremely romantic.”_

_“Says the woman who also thinks Romeo and Juliet is romantic,” he teased._

_“It is!”_

_“They both die after committing suicide!”_

_“Because they couldn’t live without the other. It’s romance, you can’t fight me on it._

_Ben shook his head before he took a sip of his wine. He then held the bottle up to Rey after noticing her empty wine glass just across from his. “Would you like another glass?”_

_Rey bit her lip as she considered her options. “Just one, I have to be able to find my way back home later.”_

_“You could…stay. You don’t have to go home…Not if you don’t want to.”_

_“I’ve never really been a person who stays…” Rey mumbled. She looked away from Ben then afraid that she had ruined everything._

_“You could be tonight.” He paused and moved across the couch to be closer to her. “You’re not going to scare me away. I’m all in.”_

_Rey looked up at Ben and nodded uneasily before she reached for his hand. “Okay.”_

\--

Ben and Rey both agreed that they would not have the first dance. They had no interest in making a fool of themselves in front of their friends and family. Instead, they shed Rey of her bouquet first and started a very unconventional karaoke show.

The newlyweds went first (obviously) with a horrific rendition of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee. They laughed through half of the lyrics and kissed sloppily at the end, much to everyone’s dismay. Ben was glad his parents had gone to the kitchen to check on the cake so they could not see him embarrass himself this badly.

When it came time for the cake, it was stunning and colorful with a tower of novels made out of fondant as the base. Sunflowers and daisies were lightly littered among the white and black top tiers with tiny figurines of Rey and Ben standing proudly at the top of the cake.

Ben cut the first piece and subsequently smashed it right into Rey’s face, all while being careful not to get any on her dress.

Rey laughed loudly and wiped the cake off of her skin, just to deposit it onto Ben’s face in return. Ben only shook his head and pulled his wife in for a kiss.

At that moment, Ben saw a vision in his mind of him and Rey. They were older, much older than they were at that moment. Rey was sitting across from him on the couch as she always did. She looked at him with that brilliant smile of hers and said: “When did you first know?” He presumed that she meant ‘when did you know I was the one?’

He smiled at her as he said, “I always knew.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here is a link to what I pictured Rey's wedding dress looked like:
> 
> https://www.sophiatolli.com/sophia-tolli/spring-2021/y22056
> 
> Let me know your thoughts in the comments!


End file.
